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A More Perfect Union

The New Georgia Encyclopedia is supported by funding from A More Perfect Union, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Georgia State Capitol

Georgia State Capitol

The state capitol building, completed in 1889, features a cornerstone, interior floor and steps, and many walls made of Georgia marble. Marble mined in the state was also used to construct 60 percent of the monuments and the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Courtesy of Explore Georgia, Photograph by Ralph Daniel.

Georgia Marble Company

Georgia Marble Company

A gang saw at the first plant built by the Georgia Marble Company in Pickens County is pictured circa 1885. The company was founded in 1884 by Samuel Tate, who in the 1830s purchased large tracts of land containing marble in north Georgia.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # pck285-85.

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Tate and Foremen

Tate and Foremen

Colonel Sam Tate (second from left), the grandson of Georgia Marble Company founder Samuel Tate, poses with a group of foremen at the Pickens County plant, circa 1925. Colonel Sam served as president of the company from 1905 until his death in 1938.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # pck111-82.

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Georgia Marble Company

Georgia Marble Company

Colonel Sam Tate, the president of the Georgia Marble Company, oversees the production of a marble bench in the Pickens County plant, circa 1930. The marble industry in the state prospered during the early 1930s but suffered losses from 1933 through the rest of the decade.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # pck250-85.

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Ground Marble Products

Ground Marble Products

Sacks of ground or pulverized marble are produced at the Calcium Products Division of the Georgia Marble Company in Tate (Pickens County), circa 1950. The division was created in 1947 to sell "waste" marble, which is used as filler in paints and plastics. Ground marble products became the company's main product by the late 1980s.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #pck253-85.

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Marble Slabs

Marble Slabs

Marble slabs used to make columns during reconstruction work on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., are cut at the Georgia Marble Company in Pickens County, circa 1958.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, # pck043-82.

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Marblehill Quarry

Marblehill Quarry

Workers for the Georgia Marble Company sit for a portrait during the 1920s at the Marblehill Quarry in Pickens County. Marble from Pickens County is reported to have been used in around 60 percent of the monuments in Washington, D.C.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
pck018-82.

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Large Georgiaite

Large Georgiaite

One of the largest tektites (or natural glasses) to be found in Georgia, this georgiaite was discovered in Dodge County in 2003. The glass is illuminated from behind to emphasize its translucent nature.

Photograph by Edward Albin

Georgiaites

Georgiaites

Georgiaites, or tektites, are natural glasses formed when an asteroid or meteorite collides with the earth. Many scientists believe that georgiaites formed as a result of the meteorite impact that created the Chesapeake Bay Crater in Virginia around 35 million years ago.

Photograph by Edward Albin

Berkeley Quarry

Berkeley Quarry

The Berkeley Quarry in Madison County, circa 1990. The quarry sits upon the Lexington-Oglesby Blue Granite Belt, which stretches from Elbert County to Oglethorpe and Madison counties. The Berkeley Quarry is one of many companies that contribute to the large granite industry centered in Elberton.

Courtesy of the Elberton Granite Association

Sandblaster, Granite Industry

Sandblaster, Granite Industry

A worker sandblasting a granite monument.

Courtesy of the Elberton Granite Association

Oglesby Quarry

Oglesby Quarry

The Oglesby Quarry, circa 1935. The quarry sits upon the Lexington-Oglesby Blue Granite Belt, which stretches from Elbert County to Oglethorpe and Madison counties. The Oglesby Quarry is one of many companies that contribute to the large granite industry centered in Elberton.

Courtesy of the Elberton Granite Museum and Exhibit

Dutchy Statue, Elberton

Dutchy Statue, Elberton

The unveiling of the statue that would come to be known as "Dutchy," on Elberton's town square, 1898. The statue depicts a Confederate soldier, but the figure is clothed in northern attire.

Courtesy of the Elberton Granite Museum and Exhibit

Dutchy

Dutchy

Dutchy, now housed in the Elberton Granite Museum and Exhibit, once stood in Elberton's town square. The statue was so disliked by locals that they buried it in a hole near where it once stood. It was exhumed in 1982.

Photograph by Melinda S. Mullikin, New Georgia Encyclopedia

Pyramid Quarry

Pyramid Quarry

The Pyramid Quarry in 2003. The quarry sits upon the Lexington-Oglesby Blue Granite Belt, which stretches from Elbert County to Oglethorpe and Madison counties. The Pyramid Quarry is one of many companies that contribute to the large granite industry centered in Elberton.

Photograph by Clay Ouzts

Bertoni Sea Lion, ca. 1900

Bertoni Sea Lion, ca. 1900

This granite lion, housed in the Elberton Granite Museum and Exhibit, was carved by Italian workers for Peter Bertoni as a good luck charm.

Photograph by Clay Ouzts

Hard Kaolin

Hard Kaolin

Hard kaolin is finely grained, difficult to break, and jagged in texture.

Image from James St. John

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